'When Partnership Stretches Longer, You Need...': Allan Donald's Advise to India Pacers Ahead of Cape Town Test

Allan Donald has advised Indian team to make sure they have bowlers in their squad who can consistently bowl full and short in Cape Town as they hope to bounce back and draw the two-match Test series against South Africa.

India are trailing 0-1 in the series after South Africa stormed to an innings and 32-run win in Centurion. The hosts put up superior show with the bat and the ball in what was a dominating show.

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While the pitch in Centurion assisted the pacers, Donald has warned that the conditions might not as helpful in Cape Town though which means there will be bigger partnerships and that’s when the short-ball ploy could be deployed to trouble the batters.

“When the partnership stretches longer, you need to have two guys who need to bowl short and full. Your spinner will keep one side nice and tight while seamers operate from one end. As the game goes long and the partnership stretches, reverse swing comes into effect,” Donald was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Donald said the Kookaburra ball doesn’t swing much after the first 20-25 overs in South Africa and hence the country has been producing bowlers who can hit the deck hard.

“We often talked in SA for generations about looking after the ball really well. We used to know that we don’t have a long time for the ball to swing. So, looking after the ball is absolutely paramount. To give guys like Fannie de Villiers, Brian McMillan, Brett Schultz a bit more time to swing the ball,” Donald said.

“If you had guys like Schultz, Donald, De Villiers and Pollock who came a bit later on, McMillan etc were guys who hit the deck. I say we are all different and bring those guys who could generate pace off the wicket. My job was to hit lengths really hard at a high pace,” he added.

Donald also had a tip for the India batters.

“If you leave the ball well here (Cape Town), you can score runs. You got to get bowlers to come to you and search a little bit more. They start coming to you, the opportunities of scoring get better. It’s an interesting phenomenon as it’s tough to bat. In Cape Town though, it will be a very good Test pitch. It will flatten out quickly, so you need to work very hard,” he said.